Thunder Taxi
by kurgaya
Summary: AU - IchiHitsu - It started with him slipping into the back seat of that taxi. It ended with a broken leg, an annoying blue panther, and his boyfriend aiming a gun at someone's head. Happy Valentine's Day indeed...


**I did a bit of research into the Japanese Addressing System but excuse me for not putting my findings into the story because it really didn't make sense... *laughs somewhat nervously***

**And the bit at the beginning... well... I'm not sure where that came from... Something different I suppose.**

**For Valentine's Day - bit early I know - mind you, this isn't a romance story...**

* * *

**Thunder Taxi**

Sometimes I feel like I trusted you too well,  
Sometimes I just feel like screaming at myself,  
Sometimes I'm in disbelief I didn't know,  
Somehow I need to be alone

~ Don't Stay by Linkin Park

* * *

_"Hey Tōshirō, do you remember Valentine's Day last year?"_

_"Last year? What happened - Oh. That year. How could I forget?"_

_"Yeah, that year. How much longer do you think I should fast forward it so the people sitting at their computers waiting for us don't have to wait no longer -?"_

"Freeze! Or I'll blow your motherfucking head off!"

_" - oops, to far, haha I look bloody terrified! Let's rewind?"_

_"The double arrow Ichigo."_

_"Right yeah, I knew that."_

* * *

Ichigo knew as the rain came down hard from the Heaven's above, the cold bullets piercing his not-prepared-for-a-flood-coat and soaking through to his skin, that today couldn't; _it could not possibility_ get any worse. He shivered, standing at the edge of the road by Karakura hospital, the tall white building behind him the place where he had just come from.

It was Valentine's Day – oh don't even think about starting on a rant about why he was not at home with his loved one – and it was Sunday. He didn't usually work Sundays but he was a doctor and he had been on call and, well, he had been called. (He had been called a lot of things today actually, as the red headed boyfriend of the girl in surgery had not been very pleased when he had been politely told to go away, and the kid was about the age where swear words seemed to be his first language, which Ichigo had quickly found out). But anyway, it had been about 3oclock in the afternoon when he had been asked to come in, and so grudgingly he had put down his cup of coffee and left a message for Tōshirō for when he got back from work, explaining where he was. Now, almost six hours later Ichigo wanted nothing more than to go home, put his feet up, and give his short white haired house-mate, partner, whatever, the hug he deserved.

The orange haired adult shook his aging head of twenty two and stuffed his hands into his pockets, turning up the volume of his phone that was tuned into the radio. During his musing the news had been playing into his ears, but he hadn't been paying attention.

" – is still supposed to be on the loose. People are warned to be careful and stay – "

Again, he tuned out of the deep voice talking into his ear, and Ichigo stuck out a hand to catch a nearby taxi. Normally he drove to work, for he didn't exactly live far away, but his car was in the garage today – something about the exhaust going or some other stupid thing – and Tōshirō had absolutely forbidden him from taking his shiny new expensive motorbike out after what had happened last time.

What happened? Ichigo grinned despite himself as a nearing taxi began to pull over for him. Well let's just say _he_ was the reason a new motorbike was needed. He won't go into details, but putting a young adult, a motorbike, and one rock hard 'supposedly' rubber chicken in a room together was not a good idea.

Especially when you add alcohol into the mix.

Mind you, it had been very funny.

He was still chuckling when the car pulled up to a stop beside him, and Ichigo welcomed the blasting warmth of the vehicle's heater as he opened the door and slipped into the back seat. He shuffled right over to the right, having got in from the left, and he guessed it was out of habit, and when he reached over and pulled the door shut the dark haired driver glanced over his broad shoulder and asked, "Where to?"

"Moko street," Ichigo replied, clicking in his seat belt and laying his shoulder bag on the floor. "Number Twenty Five."

The driver nodded and clicked his indicator, and that was when the passenger door opened up again and another person climbed in. Now either the driver didn't notice or didn't care, for as soon as the door was slammed shut the car sped off, and Ichigo was left gaping in the back seat as the huge bulk of a man now sitting beside him slipped down his jacket hood and shook his vibrate blue hair. "Hope you don't mind me dropping in," the blue head said, aiming an animal-like grin in Ichigo's direction.

And it was upon seeing those damn blue eyes that Ichigo realized he knew the guy sitting next to him.

"Jaegerjaques," he hissed, sinking further into his seat and somewhat hoping that the door would open up and throw the six foot man out of his seat so this meeting was not going to happen.

The grin faded on the other man's face, and it was when Grimmjow Jaegerjaques caught sight of Ichigo's pleading eyes he burst out laughing, his deep masculine laugh echoing around the taxi and drowning out the howl of the wind outside. "Well shit," he said, "Did not expect you meet you here berry-head."

Ichigo growled. "Well it's your own damn fault for getting into the taxi Jaegerjaques."

Grimmjow laughed again, finally realizing that he didn't have his seat belt on. He didn't care though and just sank back into his seat. "Can you blame a man for not wanting to get wet?"

"Yes," Ichigo snapped, glaring at those teasing eyes watching him. "But I guess you think the rules don't apply to you."

"Damn straight they don't," Grimmjow said sharply, that feral smile back. "I thought you would have known that from High."

By that he meant from all those times back in High School that the blue panther had bullied Ichigo endlessly, and the orange haired doctor huffed and turned to look out of the steamed up window. "You always were an ass Jaegerjaques."

Grimmjow whistled. "At least I'm a good looking ass, unlike you Strawberry, what girl did you have to bribe to get into bed with you? Though I'm sure you couldn't got that busty chick into bed with you any time," he continued, a look of contemplation flickering over his sharp features. "She was crazy over you."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't talk about Inoue-san like that," said Ichigo, the fist on resting on his left leg clenching in anger.

Grimmjow ran a hand through his wild hair, water drops trickling down all over his jeans. "I can talk about anybody however damn way I want," was the harsh response. "But where the hell we heading?"

"_I'm_ going home," Ichigo informed, turning away from the misty window to give Grimmjow a firm glare. "But _you'll_ be getting out before then, and there's no way I'm paying for your trip."

"And here I thought you were a kind-hearted doctor Kurosaki," Grimmjow replied, flashing Ichigo that smile again.

"You know nothing about me," Ichigo spat back instantly, his seat belt stopping him from launching himself at the panther. "So shut the hell up and let me return home in peace."

The car rolled to a stop at this point, presumably for a set of traffic lights, and the driver took his hands from the wheel to rummage around the front for something. Yet the two people glaring daggers at each other in the back ignored all of this and continued their heated conversation.

"Feisty," Grimmjow purred. "Now I remember why you were such fun to rile up."

"Fuck you."

Blue eyes glowed. "Yeah, fuck you too."

And that was when something small hit Ichigo in the side of the face, dropped to the floor with a metallic 'clank', and rolled about under their feet as the car lurched to a sudden, fast start. "The hell?" Ichigo asked, looking down past his legs to see what the object had been, and the car suddenly filled with the sound of a deodorant can being sprayed - or something similar - and the last thing the doctor remembered was the large man beside him cursing every colour he could think of.

_Shit._

* * *

When Ichigo opened his eyes, groggily might he add, it took him some time to realize what had just happened to him. Groaning quietly and feeling the seat belt digging into his chest he sat back against the seat from his previously slumped forward position, blinking his hazy eyes a couple of times to get back into focus. His head hurt and his right cheek was aching - oh that was so going to bruise - but Ichigo made not verbal complaint as the steady shake of the vehicle told him that he was sitting in a car.

To be more precise, he was still sitting in the taxi where he had been knocked out, and that meant... His brown eyes glanced over frantically (he didn't like Jaegerjaques but they were in the same boat - car? - here).

Angry blue eyes were staring back at him, and Ichigo presumed that Grimmjow must have just woken up too.

The driver didn't seem to notice that they were awake, if his rapid flow of words into the mobile against his ear was any clue, and Ichigo took a deep breath, shifting in his seat slightly to hopefully get a better view of the window beside him. It was still raining, he quickly noticed when he peered out, but the busy bustle of the city had drained out into the towering trees of the outskirts, and Ichigo mentally swore.

How long had they been out of it?

They needed to get out of the car, and fast.

The doctor looked both over to the blue haired man who had amazingly remained silence for the past few minutes, and when they locked eyes it was as if a mutual agreement was set into place between them; a thin piece of knowing and desperation and trust, like the smallest weakest thread of ribbon you could find; Grimmjow grinned when Ichigo gave the shadow of a nod, and just when the brown eyed man was about to mouth over a message, he leaped up from his seat like a cat and launched himself at the driver. For the first time in his life Ichigo was glad that someone had not been wearing their seat belt, for if the half ton panther had then the obvious click of the belt detaching would have been a clear sign for the driver that things were amiss in the back. Said driver let out a strangled yelp, his mobile slipped to the floor, and Grimmjow grabbed his shirt and tugged him away from the steering wheel, growling and spitting words in his face.

There was a lot of yelling, oh yes, and as the car skidding and swerved on whatever road they were driving down Ichigo un-clicked his seat belt and jumped up also, bellowing in Grimmjow's ear, "Grab the wheel you idiot!" Grimmjow's large hands lost their grip on the driver's throat, the driver's head dropped back against the seat, and Ichigo shoved Grimmjow further into the front, so far that the blue haired man was now laying right across the car, but it was too late, and the taxi hit something - Ichigo prayed it wasn't a person - jolted, and then flew off of the countryside road. They were travelling so fast that there was nothing either of them could do as the car lost it's footing and flipped, rolling, rolling, rolling...

Ichigo didn't know when it was going to stop. He couldn't make sense of left, right, up, down, all he knew was that he wished he had been wearing his fucking seat belt, Grimmjow weighted a bloody ton, and that the screaming in his ears was his own as the windows smashed and his leg flared with pain and blood sprayed all over his face - his? - and the car caved in and his lungs gasped for air as everything came to a stop - the yelling, the pain - and everything went dark once again.

* * *

The smell of damp wood mixed with an overpowering stench of aftershave was what woke Ichigo the next time, and again he groaned into awareness. Yet this time as he woke he could not feel the rumble of the car engine beneath his seat, nor could he hear the whispers of the driver, but instead felt the cold droplets of rain thundering down onto his hair, and heard a steady huffing sound, as if someone had just climbed a mountain or such. He shifted his pounding head to the side - he was lying on something; lying... in a sitting position? Now that's not right - and watched as a thousand trees bobbed along by him, slow, steady...

"You awake Strawberry?" came a gruff question from above, and Ichigo's head snapped up to see that shocking blueberry hair hovering above him.

"Arrh!" he yelled, his confused mind not yet ready to take in such a vast amount of colour, and he struggled to get out of the other man's grip.

Grimmjow held on to hold, tight, annoyed. "For fuck sake idiot, stop moving lest you want to damage that leg even more!"

Ichigo stopped moving like a dog told to sit and mumbled, "Huh?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "I'm helping you out here out of the goodness of my heart."

"What goodness?" Ichigo replied, and he glanced over at his legs. His right was ok, but now he knew what that pain in the car accident had been when - "Holy shit the taxi!"

"That's exactly my point," Grimmjow replied to the first point. "And the taxi and it's fucking messed up driver are about an hour thataway," he said in response to the second, nodding his head in the opposite direction he was walking in.

"You just left the driver there?" Ichigo asked, somewhat outraged.

"Well duh," said the other, giving him a confused look. "Maybe you hit your head too berry, cause that man was sure to kill us - unless you haven't been watching the news lately?"

No, he hadn't been watching the news lately, so how was he supposed to know that some deranged moron was on the loose trying to kill people? Actually, he should have known that there was someone dangerous on the streets, as Tōshirō had been working late lately and considering the white haired adult was a cop it made perfect sense that he knew what was going on around Karakura. Some people thought they made an odd pair, the doctor and the cop, but Ichigo loved it; they both understood the need to help people. Ichigo had grown up around the medical system his whole life, his family house, for instance, was still part of the Karakura Clinic and was still used regularly with assistance from the hospital, and Ichigo's father Isshin still worked there, despite not having him around to help any more. Tōshirō on the other hand had not grown up with police officer parents but had aspired to join the law enforcement when he and one of his college friends, Rangiku Matsumoto, had had a rather close run in with a rapist a few years ago. Neither of them had been violated, thank god, but the danger and vulnerability they had been in had imbued Tōshirō to make sure that events like that never happened again.

Ichigo gave no reply to Grimmjow's question and just leaned back into the well toned chest supporting him. In all his life he never would have thought he would meet his High School bully again, much less in circumstances like this. All he had done was climb into a taxi and now look where they were, wandering through a forest in the middle of nowhere. His left leg throbbed angrily at him and Ichigo knew he really needed medical attention at some point, but without knowing where they were they had nowhere to go.

"Does your phone work?" Grimmjow suddenly asked, slowing down to a stop underneath a tree. The rain was still pouring down heavily and Ichigo shivered, but he reached into his trouser pocket and fished out his mobile. There were over twenty missed calls from Tōshirō when he unlocked it, and guilt wormed his way up inside of him. _Damn he must he so worried... _"No," Ichigo said, frowning at the lateness of the time. "I've got no signal."

Grimmjow swore and shifted Ichigo in his arms slightly. The orange head whimpered pathetically but the other made no sarcastic comment.

"My phone's crushed," Grimmjow said dully. "Brace yourself for a moment."

Ichigo didn't even have time to ask what for before Grimmjow slowly lowered himself to his knees and then fell back against a tree, letting out a heavy sigh in the process. If the situation hadn't been so dire Ichigo would have sprung right out of Grimmjow's lap the instant he sat down, but his leg hurt, his head hurt, and he wasn't exactly going to get anywhere.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, looking up at the tired blue haired man.

"Nah, just a few scratches, nothing like your leg. I'm obviously a lot more sturdy than a weakling like you."

Ichigo huffed, wanting to show Grimmjow just how strong this 'weakling' was, but he was too tried, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep this strange evening off. "Wish I was at home."

Grimmjow snorted, scaring Ichigo. "You and me both - I don't like the rain."

"Poor kitty."

"Watch it," Grimmjow growled angrily. "If you weren't bleeding to death I would smash your pretty face in."

Ichigo grinned cheekily and leant back into Grimmjow's chest like a child. "Thank god for small miracles then." He yawned then, lifting up one of his hands to catch it, and Grimmjow jabbed him in the shoulder. "Hey! What was that for?"

The look he got was one of disappointment. "Aren't you meant to be the doctor out of the two of us? Don't fall asleep, I might never get you up again."

"Aw, worried?" Ichigo asked, though Grimmjow's statement was completely true, and he didn't think Tōshirō would be too pleased if he never made it home. "But you're right," he said before Grimmjow could. Somewhat randomly, or it must have looked to Grimmjow, he then leaned forward and pushed his jacket down off of his back. "What're doing?" Grimmjow asked, watching as the ginger slipped off his jacket and leaned forward.

"Doctor stuff," was the reply. "But to put it simply I'm wrapping up my leg to try and stop the blood getting out." He did just as he said while saying this but afterwards kinda wished he hadn't, as now he only had his thin white shirt to protect him from the evening air and the bullet rain. "Fuck it's cold."

Grimmjow 'hmmm'ed in response and closed his eyes, titling his head back against the tree bark. "This is stupid."

"Tell me about it," Ichigo said sighing. "Any idea where we are?"

"No clue," the other said bluntly. "I can't think of many forests around Karakura so we must be a way out. Just our luck really that our taxi driver's a wanted killer."

Ichigo guessed the whole thing was irony. Wasn't Valentine's Day meant to be a nice, relaxing day? "Is he dead?" he whispered uncertainly, looking over in the direction they had come from.

"Dunno," Grimmjow said. "Hope so. I didn't bother checking him when I pulled you out of the vehicle."

Ichigo was quiet for a moment, and he took this time to realize that the rain was letting up. He wished it had let up earlier, for he knew from Tōshirō that rain was a disaster during a crime scene, for obvious reasons, and if the ground had been dry then maybe someone would have found their footprints or something to follow so that they could find them.

Unless that person was the taxi driver of course. That would be bad.

"Why didn't you leave me in the car?" Ichigo asked when Grimmjow jabbed him once again to make sure he was awake. "You could've just left me there and then I would've been - "

"Look Kurosaki," Grimmjow said firmly. "I may not like you, but I'm not a heartless monster that would leave someone to die."

"Oh," Ichigo said quietly, and a respectful smile wormed its way onto his face. He shut his eyes and giggled, wondering if maybe the blood loss was going to his head. "That's nice to know."

* * *

_That morning, 11:00AM_

When Tōshirō Hitsugaya stepped out of the shower dripping wet and abnormally sweaty on a pink and red February morning, he had no way of knowing that today was going to be a Valentine's Day he was never going to forget. He reached over and plucked one of the blue towels from the radiator and rubbed his snow white hair dry before blinking the water away from his eyes and glancing at himself in the mirror on the wall opposite. He didn't completely fit in the mirror's frame mind you, and the misty glass reflected back his scowl, as it did every day when he was in the bathroom like clockwork. Sighing because of his unusual height and how he hated it so, he he threw the towel in the laundry basket that was threatening to overflow and picked up the blue shirt lying by the door. Slipping it over his head without any difficulty was a clear sign that it was one of Ichigo's shirt, but he had intended it to be for as the thin fabric reached down right past his ass it was the only item of clothing he had brought in with him.

The sticky steam rolled out of the bathroom when he exited, and soft footsteps hurriedly made their way across the hallway and into the bedroom at the end. Ichigo was still lying with one of his legs hanging over the end of the bed asleep, and Tōshirō smiled at the mumbled babble that was gushing out of the orange head's snoring mouth. Tōshirō wandered over gently, checking the clock beside their bed as he did, and slipped into the diminutive curved space against Ichigo's chest, placing his head against the spot where his boyfriend's heartbeat could be found. Smiling, the young adult closed his eyes, not at all bothered by the dampness of his hair, and waited for his other half to wake up.

It didn't take long, and Tōshirō knew it wouldn't, and so it was without surprise that he felt an arm snake around his almost bare waist and a pair of lips kiss the top of his head. "Morning," he told the half awake man, and Ichigo moaned.

"What time is it?"

Tōshirō didn't check the clock. "About eleven-twenty," he replied. Ichigo breathed in deep beside him and let out a sigh, his tiredness still weighing down his actions. "Your hair's wet," he mumbled, wrinkling his nose.

"That's because I've taken a shower," Tōshirō replied dryly and Ichigo chuckled. "Your turn."

Ichigo gave his lover's body a squeeze. "Nope, I think I'll stay here for a while."

Tōshirō clicked his tongue. "You smell - "

" - Oh thanks - "

" - and if you don't hurry up I won't make you breakfast."

"You?" Ichigo asked, perplexed. "Making breakfast? Are you feeling ok?"

A rosy blush found its way onto pale cheeks. "Shut up," the smaller snapped, bringing an arm around to poke Ichigo in the side. "And here I thought you liked my cooking."

"I do," came the sleepy reply, and Ichigo yawned before continuing. "But you never grace me with it, so I'm asking what's up?"

His tone was still teasing, so Tōshirō took no offence. "Nothing's up," he said, and he squirmed in Ichigo's hold to sit up, kissing Ichigo on the forehead in the process. "Now get your ass out of bed and have a shower."

Brown eyes watched as the other body climbed off of the bed. "Yes your highness," he said, and then just because he was feeling good he added, "Nice view by the way."

* * *

_Some forest, present_

"Hey Jaegerjaques," was said some hours later and Grimmjow grunted in his half asleep state and peered down at the brown eyes gazing up at him curiously. Heaving a sigh he snapped himself back into awareness and mumbled, "What?"

"Do you hear something?" Ichigo asked, his tone much like a lost child's.

Grimmjow grumbled something rude but listened anyway. "Nope," he said honestly, the only sounds he could hear were the drops of water falling from the leaves of the trees and his companion's - since when was Kurosaki a companion? - breathing.

"Seriously Jaegerjaques," Ichigo pushed, frowning. "What if it's - "

"Kurosaki, I am _not_ playing eye-spy with you again, and that's fi - "

A gun shot ran through the forest. Ichigo jumped so badly that pain flared up his leg and he cried out; Grimmjow jolted from his moody half sleep again, eyes and ears wide alert like that of a predator. "Fucking heard that," he grumbled. "Do you think our taxi driver has lived up to his reputation?" His tone was more of less carefree, but his actions contradicted it as he carefully helped Ichigo to his feet, or foot, as the ginger didn't dare put weight on his left, and scanned the area.

"It didn't sound far away," Ichigo said, and as he did there was another shot, soon followed by - "Is that barking?"

Grimmjow snorted. "Guess the idiot's shot an old lady walking her dog."

Ichigo was not in the mood for the other's cruel humour. "It's dark," he argued. "Why would someone be walking there dog at this time of night?"

"Maybe the old woman's blind - either that or really stu - " He dodged a punch from Ichigo's right hand, instinctively sticking out his foot to trip his attacker up. Ichigo yelled out in shock and crashed to the damp muddy ground, cursing in pain.

"Fuck Jaegerjaques!"

"You were the one who went to hit me!" Grimmjow argued, frowning down at the man whimpering on the ground.

"Only because you were making horrid jokes about an elderly wo - "

A third shot seemed to bring the two men back to their senses, and Grimmjow pushed back his manliness and scooped Ichigo up and threw in over his left shoulder in one quick motion. "You've ruined my pride Kurosaki," he informed dejectedly.

Ichigo snorted. "Your pride? I'm the one being carried like a damsel in distress here!"

And when yelling could be heard in the near surrounding area Grimmjow cast away his pride even further by doing the one thing he hadn't most; running. The sound of the barking was practically on top of them now, and Ichigo, being able to see what exactly was behind them, looked up as footsteps that were surely not Grimmjow's filled his ears -

"Holy shit Grimmjow!" he yelled suddenly, and before said man could ask what was wrong Ichigo had kicked him in the stomach. The wind escaping him he tumbled forward, losing his hold on Ichigo like butter and crashed onto his face just as a bullet flew over his head. He groaned, realizing what the hell had just happened and rolled over, only to come face to face with the taxi driver.

His lips rose into a snarl. "You motherfuc - "

"Quiet," the man hissed, his voice like venom, and he dug his foot into Grimmjow's chest, never taking his eyes off of his gun, the same gun that was pointing to Grimmjow's right, presumably to where Ichigo had fallen.

And that, Grimmjow noted, was when a giant beast of a dog bowled into view and tackled the criminal to the ground from behind, its razor teeth inches from the man's pale face, and another voice, young, belonging to the white haired, teal eyed officer, the shortest adult Grimmjow had ever seen, yelled exactly what Grimmjow was sure the taxi driver had been thinking moments before as he aimed his weapon at the panting ginger on the ground:

"Freeze! Or I'll blow your motherfucking head off!"

His words were harsh and cold, angry, oh so angry, and Grimmjow sighed, letting his eyes slip shut as a sigh of relief escaped him as another four police officers jumped into the area. Wondering what the hell he had done to deserve this, Grimmjow vowed on his very existence to never - _never_ - get into a taxi with Ichigo Kurosaki again.

He valued his sanity thank you very much.

* * *

**This was a blast to write ^^ Happy Valentine's Day in 8 days time everyone!**


End file.
